- Canada kills internet surveillance bill disguised as an anti-child pornography measure, giving Canadians a reprieve from the inevitable take-over of the internet by government.
- President Obama condemned a third nuclear test by North Korea calling it a “highly provocative act” that demands “swift and credible action by the international community” against North Korea. Countries that already have nuclear weapons always strongly condemn other countries getting them.
- Glenn Greenwald asks whether drones should be used to kill Christopher Dorner, the ex-police officer who is accused of waging war on the LAPD. Whether drones are or are not being used is in dispute.
- The U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have resulted in the 6,656 death of military personnel. Of course, U.S. Presidents are always wiling to pay the cost of war with other people’s lives. But, you rarely hear about the other “sacrifices” Presidents have been willing to commit American soldiers to: 1700 limb amputations, 50,000 combat wounds, 130,000 cases of PTSD, and 253,330 cases of traumatic brain injury (6500 of which are severe).
- The identity of Israel’s most secret prisoner has been uncovered, I know it’s Kind of hard to imagine a democratic country secretly imprisoning a citizen without trial and then forcing the press to keep quiet about it. Hahaha! Just kidding about that last part. Nothing is hard to imagine about democratic countries anymore.
- Knut, the polar bear that became a sensation in 2007 and then unexpectedly died in 2011 will soon have a new home at the Berlin’s natural history museum.
[Updated below with a couple items from The Agitator]
- Georgia lawmaker uses fake nude photo of himself to call for ban on fake nude photos.
- Ohio Attorney General releases a report and animation (below) of a Cleveland incident where 13 cops fired 137 rounds at a suspect vehicle killing the occupants. Police insist someone shot at them from the car and took off in pursuit of it. The chase involved “nearly 60 vehicles”, but no gun or shell casings were ever found in the car. The state attorney general condemned the actions as a systemic failure, but the police chief and city council insist that existing polices and procedures work fine.
I threw up in my mouth a little when I read “Michael Bloomberg, Tireless Champion of Civil Liberties”. I don’t think I can stomach clicking on the link. Anyone know if the headline sarcastic or not?
WARNING: The Bloomberg article is NOT sarcastic.
On the plus side, that article’s comment section overwhelmingly takes the headline to task!
No, the Bloomberg article is not sarcastic. I was going to make some appropriate disparaging remarks about it, but I don’t see the article as letting Bloomberg off the hook for his wanting to legislate healthy living or his stop-and-frisk program. I think she’s simply pointing out that he has been willing to resist jumping on the bandwagon on some civil liberties issues and she thinks he deserves some recognition for that.
I don’t like Bloomberg at all, but I have a certain respect for Wendy Kaminer from back when I was doing the Sex Hysteria blog. She has a long history of opposition to the feminist crusade to outlaw pornography. Her ACLU background makes her a crusader for the 1st Amendment, so everything else takes a backseat to that. In any case, Kaminer is not very high on my list of threats to liberty so I’m cutting her some slack. 🙂
Thanks for the responses, Frito and Dave. Still not sure if I wanna actually read the article, but at least I know more about what I’m getting into if I do!